Back in January, I asked the question:
Is using AI to write fiction cheating?
It sparked a lot of quiet reflection—and a few not-so-quiet opinions.

Three months later, with a completed first draft of The Second Coming of Grace behind me and a full short story collection taking shape, I’d like to revisit that question.

Because here’s the truth:
Yes, I’ve used AI in my writing process. And no, I don’t regret it.

But not in the way you might think.

I haven’t asked a machine to write my novel. I’ve asked it to sit beside me. To help me brainstorm. To suggest alternate phrasings when I’m stuck. To reflect my own voice back to me when I’ve lost track of it.

More than anything, I’ve used it as a conversation partner—one that listens carefully, learns my preferences, and helps me stay accountable to the kind of story I want to tell.

That’s not automation. That’s collaboration. And in a world where time, energy, and mental focus can be in short supply—especially when caregiving or dealing with health challenges—it’s a gift.

At the end of the day, I come back to something I said in that earlier post:

The point isn’t how the story gets made.
The point is what it becomes.

The Second Coming of Grace is deeply personal. It carries my voice, my wounds, my questions, my ancestors. That didn’t come from a prompt. That came from lived experience—and the willingness to craft something out of it.

The AI didn’t write that.
But it helped me believe I could.